UH West Oʻahu professor explains role of training and coordination in Disaster Management Handbook

Dr. Ross Prizzia, chairperson of the Professional Studies Division and coordinator of the Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management Certificate Program at UH West Oʻahu, recently published two chapters in the Disaster Management Handbook. Integrating scholarly articles from international experts and first hand accounts from the practitioner community, the Disaster Management Handbook presents an analytical critique of the interrelated, multidisciplinary issues of preparedness, response, and recovery in anticipating and rebuilding from disasters.

In chapter five, "The Role of Coordination in Disaster Management," Prizzia explains the increasingly urgent need for coordination and collaboration in disaster management among public and private sector agencies and organizations at the community, city, local, state, national and international levels.

In chapter 28, "The Role of Training in Disaster Management: The Case of Hawaiʻi," Prizzia discusses the importance of training in disaster management and how it is essential to an effective response before, during and after natural and man-made disasters. On the basis of meta-analysis and review of documents from relevant government agencies and organizations and a survey of emergency managers in the state of Hawaiʻi, this chapter describes the important role of training in the preparation for, response to and recovery from disasters.

Dr. Prizzia is the author of numerous journal articles, book chapters and four books. He also served as peer reviewer for the Journal of Environmental Economics and the American Review of Public Administration. He holds an M.A. from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and a Ph.D from the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa. Dr. Prizzia received the UH Board of Regents Excellence in Teaching Award in 1987.

For information on how to purchase the Disaster Management Handbook, email christine.squire@taylorandfrancis.com.